I love this soup! Whenever I visit Bangkok, I always made sure that I have a taste of this satisfying broth. The combination of all the components in the dish blend perfectly well - ground pork, soft tofu, vegetables and fresh herbs. You couldn't ask for anything more!  

The vegetable dishes in Thailand are also worth to be had. I like it that it's always served saucy type.

 Seafood steamboat. So fresh and clean in taste! Definitely a good starter of a meal.

 Fried Fish Cakes with a number of dipping sauce to choose from. So addictive!



 Soft Shell Crab in a salad. So tasty!

 Fried Prawn Cake - another must have! It's a very good starter or side dish.

Thai Green Curry - another signature Thai dish worth remembering. The melange of flavours from coconut milk and fresh herbs lingers through your palate.

 

But it was the indoor pool that my kids enjoyed the most. It has a very relaxing ambiance specially since it's located at a high level, you're treated with a good view too.

So, I'm starting this year with a post on our recent stay at Sheraton Pattaya Resort. Pattaya is a popular beach resort situated in the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It's roughly 2 hours or more away from Bangkok. We went there last December 2012, just a few days prior to Christmas. The weather was sunny and it's just perfect to roam around. We arrived in the afternoon and we were welcomed by a very beautiful sunset. Unlike Thailand's other popular beaches, Pattaya has very limited choices in terms of good accommodation. Among the few secluded ones, we opted for Sheraton. If there's one thing that the place boasts off, it's definitely its serene ambiance and the relaxing view. Unfortunately, even the scenic beauty of the resort cannot hide it's already run down facilities. It's sad, but the Sheraton Pattaya evidently needs a facelift and renovation. They need to replace some old stuffs inside the resort.
 

Having said that though, the staff's service are truly commendable. We experienced Thai hospitality at its best.

Crunchy Chopped Salad - Chop, mix and toss! That's all there is in this sure pleaser. The dressing is a combination of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, honey and finely minced garlic.

Garlic Prawns - Season the prawns with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pan fry until they turn pink, set aside. Melt a knob of butter on a hot pan and sauté a handful of finely chopped garlic until fragrant. Add in prawns and coat well with the garlic butter sauce. Sprinkle with chopped Italian flat parsley before serving.

Griddled Cod Fish - season the fish with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Griddle in a hot pan until tender.

Rib eye Steak with Mushroom Sauce - my favourite show stopper! Season the steak with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to rest for a while before cooking. Add olive oil in a hot pan. Pan fry the steak 3 minutes per side. Add sprigs of rosemary and 2 cloves of garlic after the first 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cover and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.  

Potato Gratin - this is Jamie Oliver's Perfect Gratin. Since I prepared it the first time, I fell in love with it completely. Hence, it's becoming a regular in my meal repertoire.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with Mixed Berries and Vanilla Ice Cream - another sure pleaser yet easy to prepare dessert. After a series of trials in finding the best recipe for a Molten Choco Lava Cake, I finally settled and felt satisfied with Martha Stewart's version. This is best prepared just minutes before serving it. You need about 25 minutes to have it done.

 

This dinner certainly warmed me up for the next important one.

 

Instead of the typical flowers, sweet goodies or other crafts that hotels normally provide as a welcome note to its guests, Rex Hotel surprised me with this Card sitting on my bed. It's not just an ordinary card because it narrates the tale of the world famous Vietnamese dish - Pho. It also describes how a Pho is usually prepared (see recipe below). But what caught me from everything that's written was this:

 

"To appreciate Pho propersly, it should be eaten in restaurants with the atmosphere of people going in and out, the sound of bowls, chop sticks and knives, and the passionate faces."

1. Put the ox's bone, tendon and pork's bone into a large pot with 300ml boiling water. Simmer the stock at low heat. Skim the scum on the surface of the stock.

2. Add grilled ginger, onion and star anise along with cloves and cinnamon and 1 tbsp of salt into the boiling stock.

3. After 4 hrs, remove all ingredients and set aside. Let the broth continue to simmer, until the broth is rich and flavorful; about 1 hr.

4. Taste the broth and add more salt or fish sauce to taste.

5. Arrange the slices of raw fillet over the noodles in the bowl. Carefully ladle the boiling broth all over; the raw beef should be submerged in the broth.

6. Serve immediately along with the platter of garnish.

If there's one country to vote as one of the best culinary havens (if not the best) in South East Asia, Vietnam will definitely be it! Compared to its other Asian neighbors that are increasingly invading the global culinary scene, Vietnam offers no restriction to its cuisine. It is here where you can devour the foods with so much freshness and much gusto without aversion to other taste sensation like chili or hot & spicy (unlike Korea and Thailand). Vietnamese food is recognized as one of the healthiest cusines in the world. The dining table is always generously adorned with fresh herbs and vegetables. The most common ones are basil, mint, spring onions, long leaf coriander and lemongrass. Likewise, condiments are also very popular. Foods are typically accompanied with fish sauce, soy sauce, shrimp paste and other home made concoctions.  

 

On my first day in Ho Chi Minh, we went to the Vietnamese restaurant - Mon Hue in District 7. The restaurant features dishes from Central Vietnam and these are some of the best sellers..

 

Steamed Minced Pork - the flavor from the banana leaf blended well with the meat and gave a characteristic taste that's pleasing to the palate

Grilled Minced Pork - sweet, caramelic with a hint of grilled note. It's so yummy, one stick is not enough. It's perfect with a peanut sauce (below).

There are lots and lots of herbs and vegetables available to either top on your soup or roll in rice papers for a fresh spring roll.

 

Jackfruit Salad served with crispy rice crackers, this is my favorite! By far, one of the best salads I've tasted.

 

 Beef Noodles - a classic example of umami rich broth

Even at the hotel, I simply can't resist a serving of hot, steaming noodle soup for breakfast just like this one - Prawn Noodle Soup

Vietnamese cuisine will not be complete without the popular soup or broth based dish called Pho. History had it that the Pho Noodle Soup first appeared in the 1920s. That makes the dish less than 100 years old! First, there was only Beef Noodle soup and it was being sold around the streets. When there was a shortage of beef, people started making Pho with Chicken and eventually became popular as well. Now, so famous is the dish that almost no street in Ho Chi Minh City is without a Pho Restaurant. But the must go to place is the one located along Pasteur street in District 1 - PHO HOA PASTEUR. 

Inside the restaurant, you'll see this bold warning to customers regarding "me-too" Pho Hoa Pasteur. So make sure you visit the right one.

A generous servings of long leaf coriander, the defining taste and character to an authentic Pho together with lime and chili. The addition of garnishes such as these including bean sprouts and culantro are believed to be introduced in the south of Vietnam where HCMC is.

 

This was my bowl of Beef Pho (I preferred the one with cooked beef brisket) - truly nothing tastes better than an authentic one! The balance of umami-sweetness is just second to none!

 

Gio Chao Quay (Chinese fried dough sticks) - apparently this bread is served together with the noodle soup. Initially, I had some reservations of dipping it into the soup due to its high oil content but eventually, I yielded and it tasted good together with it.

Another famous Vietnamese dish - Fresh Spring Rolls served with sweet bean sauce

 

Hot Pot / Steam Boat is surprisingly very cheap in Ho Chi Minh. We visited one restaurant in District 4 serving hot pot dishes and as expected it was an experience to remember.

 

Boiled young beef (calf) with some wild leaves to go with the spring rolls. This served as appetizer to our Hot Pot dish.

To simply put; with all these types of foods,  to appreciate Vietnamese Cuisine is to come with a big appetite and an adventurous taste buds.